When I first came to Ethiopia 4 years ago, I was wondering about men holding some papers on the streets and shouting, “DV be 1 birr, DV be 1 birr”. It made me curious to see many stopped their busy stride to buy a paper form DV application.
Now, the season’s scenery has transformed to a bunch of “DV 2006″ advertisements on the windows of Internet pops (café). In small not-so-cozy pops, you see a middle aged man with serious face sitting patiently next to the young female typist who fills out his internet DV application form. Holding his ID card firmly, he once in a while bends towards the computer screen to check if the typist is doing it right. He wants to order her just like he does in his office and house. But as he has no idea about the computer, he only has to pretend as confident and relaxed, wishing that this process will be over soon and, praying that this young lady would not make any mistake in filling his information as the USA is too strict.
Most of the people I know say they apply for the DV “to make money” or “for better life”. I consider those who prefer to go USA or Europe, but not to the Middle East, as not desperate since they don’t want to put their life on the line by being a housemaid in the Middle East.
Today, a young energetic man I know told me that he will be in the states after 10 days for he won this DV lottery. As if the personality has changed, he acted very confident and shook my hand firmly when I congratulated him.
Since I used to live in the state he is now planning to go, he asked me about life up there and whether I know any place where he could possibly apply for a job. However, I couldn’t give him any idea as I lived in the city 3 hours away from where he will be residing. After some conversation, I found out that just like his predecessors, he has little knowledge of what is waiting for him or what he will be doing. But he is ecstatic and longing to be in the states.
Even though, there is more opportunity to research about the place you are going nowadays, people seem to go without enough preparation. They even tell me anywhere in the USA is okay or they will find out once they get there. They seem to firmly believe that they made a right decision and they can handle it just based on what they have heard. They think these developed countries better guarantee their future, and there are less chance of being abused by the employees.
Of course I can’t blame such optimism and insufficient preparedness of people. Because I myself came to Ethiopia with less information but filled with vague expectations. I thought “Ethiopia must be full of excitements and will definitely contribute to make my life richer”. I saw some photos of Addis Ababa, read some general information about the history and culture, but that was it. I must admit that I did not have a complete picture until I got in this country, I was thinking like “let me just go and find out”
Ah, but I was in a lot different context. I came to Ethiopia as a JICA volunteer and I knew what kind of job I would be having. I had a guarantee to have a decent life and there would be all those supports from JICA. For example, if I encounter any serious injury and if the hospitals in Ethiopia cannot handle it, JICA will immediately send me to another country. More importantly, I could always return to Japan where job opportunity and decent life awaits anytime I want. I could even have taken a trip to Ethiopia before deciding to live during my vacation. I did not have to take the risk.
When I was teaching mainly 18 to 22 years old students, some of them asked me if I could help getting them scholarships to go to other countries. But I told them they would not be eligible because they did not have good grades. Furthermore, they did not seem to work harder to achieve better grade.
During their school years, these students were used to sending off their “lucky” classmates who got a chance to live abroad. They smile and congratulate for such person, but at the same time their heart might have ached a bit from jealousy. They might bitterly thought like “I wish I were the one”, as if leaving for abroad would solve all the problems and ease hard work they are facing now – perhaps including difficult exams for their class.
Many people not only apply for DV but also desperately use every opportunity from convincing and begging of their relatives abroad to even trying to make foreign BF/GF so that they would take them home.
One day, I was invited to the famous “false wedding”. It was a wedding between an Ethiopian origin man with USA green card and sister of his partner (GF) in the USA. Apparently, his partner did not want to marry him but instead wanted to use that marriage opportunity to bring her sister to the USA. As this is one of the common practices here, the couple must submit photos from their wedding to be approved by the strict US Embassy when they are applying for visa.
The wedding took place in a park with about 20 people. They exchanged the rings and signed the paper in front of the priest (I don’t know whether he is real or not). The cameraman was capturing the most important moments of the occasion from different angles. The mother of a bride looked very serious, constantly ordering the cameraman, who also asked me to pose with the newly weds, to take a picture of this and that. I was not sure how much I could contribute to make this wedding real, but I tried my best, acting and smiling. Soon a Masinko man started singing joyously and we all began dancing in the beautiful green park enjoying the nice weather. We danced, laughed and sweat and had fun in that Wednesday morning.
Finally, we all sat on the bench. No delicious food or Tej (honey wine), but somebody brought a case of soft drinks just for a thirsty throat. A gentle breeze soothed me and everyone looks satisfied at accomplishing their role in this wedding theatre. I turned my eyes to the bride whose serious face turned to a relieved smile. Her smiling face looked as if she got married for real. “Happy wedding!”, I was about to say but stopped because suddenly I felt weird and became a bit anxious about taking a part of a sort of a fraud. However, nobody else looked guilty. They all performed very well. Or was it an act? No, it was not because I realized that after all, it was not a wedding party but it was a kind of farewell party. Once they move to the states, many people cannot come back to Ethiopia that often. People also know that there is no guarantee for bright future in the states. So, we were throwing a farewell party. Then I said “good luck” to the bride.
When people asked me why I left the states or do not want to live in developed countries even though I have opportunities, I would simply say, I like the life I have in Addis. But I wonder if I were Ethiopian and in their shoes, would I still choose to live here? Blurred future and prevailing feeling of giving up because even if you work hard everyday, country like Ethiopia may not reward fairly.
However, I threw away opportunities that desperately wanted by some people who dream of winning DV. I happened to be born in Japan and my Japanese passport enables me to visit different countries whenever I want and I chose Ethiopia.
Of course, not all the people I know want to live abroad. Especially those with sufficient money or enjoy their work. But without that, many people prefer to leave the country.
So when I met this young man around 20 years old who said he never bought DV in his life, I was surprised. He lost his parents long time ago and had to cover the tuition of his sisters and such a difficult life is enough for him to consider DV lottery. He said all his friends are looking forward to DV and all these valuable human resource leaves the country. “Who then build this country better?” he asked me and continued “I may be wrong, but I want to live here, I want to continue my education here, contribute to the development of this country and hopefully I live here for the rest of my life”. Sounds like a perfect answer that any government would like to hear. As I dream of borderless world, I would say something toward such statement, but I was speechless in front of him.
As a person who has more opportunities, which mostly created by my society and ancestors, I felt I have some responsibility to make such young people’s dream come true in place like Ethiopia.
Yes, there are different opinions toward one’s choice in leaving the country. I understand, the seriousness of brain drainage, but I wish individuals are able to live wherever they want to. And I hope wherever they are, they contribute to improve the society. And as I live in Ethiopia, I hope more people would be happier in this place.
